


Building a Better Aurum: Kipo Style!

by RowanandKatrina



Category: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Humorous Ending, Season 3 re-imagining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24950023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowanandKatrina/pseuds/RowanandKatrina
Summary: "I want you to gild your father."Cold struck Kipo to her core as she turned and looked at her father, standing hypnotized and helpless. The horror of Scarlemagne's suggestion made her whole body tremble with rage.Which was why she promptly slapped her adopted brother across the face. "Did you not hear me, like, ten seconds ago? Do you know get how choices work?""I--" Scarlemagne began, but Kipo interrupted him with a hard poke to the chest."No, you clearly don't! Because if you did, you wouldn't be asking mutes to either follow you or drown in melted gold! So, we're gonna start this over from the beginning, mister! You're gonna offer everyone some actual choices or they're gonna see you get beat up by your baby sister!"
Comments: 17
Kudos: 206





	1. Chapter 1

"What kind of a choice is that?"

The gold-coated mod frogs did not please Kipo in the way Scarlemagne had hoped. He frowned at the look on her face when he presented her with his gift. "Let me try again," he offered. "This time I'll let you make the choice. I'll let everyone go. Only those who want to follow me will stay. I will give up everything I've worked for, for you. But I need to know that you're willing to give something up for me. Kipo, I want you to gild your father."

Cold struck Kipo to her core as she turned and looked at her father, standing hypnotized and helpless. The horror of Scarlemagne's suggestion made her whole body tremble with rage.

Which was why she promptly slapped her adopted brother across the face.

Scarlemagne staggered back, eyes wide with shock. "Wha--what the blazes was that?"

"Did you not hear me, like, ten seconds ago?" Kipo snapped. "Do you know get how choices work?"

"I--" Scarlemagne began, but Kipo interrupted him with a hard poke to the chest.

"No, you clearly don't! Because if you did, you wouldn't be asking mutes to either follow you or drown themselves in melted gold! So, we're gonna start this over from the beginning, mister! You're gonna offer everyone some actual choices or they're gonna see you get beat up by your baby sister!"

Scarlemagne laughed loudly. Perhaps a bit too loudly, even for him. "You destroy me? Really? Who has the army here, Kipo? That's right. It's me."

Kipo huffed and crossed her arms. "Do I look like I can bluff to you?"

"Well, actually, you bluffed rather well in Corn Dog Ki--"

Again with the chest-poking. "I am a terrible liar! Hey, dad! Scarlemagne wants to know what a terrible liar I am."

"It's true," Lio said in his dazed and not-altogether-there voice. "Kipo is quite possibly the worst liar I have ever encountered in my life. Once she tried to tell me that space slugs had eaten her homework. I couldn't bring myself to punish her because it was so very laughable."

Scarlemagne gritted his teeth. His gaze darted between the massive, and understandably confused crowd below, waiting to see what would happen, and the incredibly demanding half-mute human in front of him. He'd get this settled soon enough, he decided, but not with everyone watching. This was his big day after all. "A-hem! Lio. Tell everyone how wonderful I am for a few moments while I consult with your daughter."

"No problem!" Lio replied, grinning and stepping forward while Scarlemagne and Kipo stepped back out of the view of the crowd.

"He wants everyone to know how much he loves board games," Kipo whispered as they walked past. "Tell them about that."

"I will definitely tell them about that!" Lio said, then proceeded to fill the crowd in about how only a leader as thoughtful and down-to-earth as Scarlemagne could possibly love board games so very much.

"That is _not_ the dignified image I was going for," Scarlemagne hissed as they backed against the wooden maroon doors which had led them out to the arena's overlook in the first place.

"Yeah, maybe," Kipo said with a shrug. "But you really should cultivate that down-to-earth image. You're gonna need it."

Scarlemagne pounded his fist into the wall, just missing her face. The wood at her back shook with the force. "You have ten seconds to explain what you're babbling on about," he growled. "Otherwise, the next order your father gets is his last!"

"Oh, right to the point, then. Gotcha. So, here's the deal. See, my dad's not under your control anymore." She reached into the way-too-many massive folds of her red dress, pulled out a canteen and tossed it haphazardly behind her. The lid popped open the moment it made contact with the hard floor, and Scarlemagne watched a strange blue liquid spill out. The liquid immediately took on a life of its own, scurrying up Lio's back, then hurling itself into his mouth. Lio coughed briefly, and when his eyes met Scarlemange's, he could see the pupils had widened back to their normal size. His expression was surprised but aware of his surroundings.

As Kipo had claimed, she wasn't lying. Lio was fully in control of himself once again.

Sweat beaded on the back of Scarlemagne's furry neck, but he did not bother to collect it or even wipe it off. His power...immobilized. He looked in the direction of the open arena. "And...all of them down there?"

"Yep. Totally immune to your powers right now," Kipo said. "See, I'm doing you a big favor and saving you face here. You've gotta admit as much. Oo, Dad--" She turned to her father. "Could you just keep talking about Scarlemagne to everyone for another minute? We're working out a deal here."

"Um...sure, but…" Lio rubbed his head. "Are you...sure you're okay, sweetheart?"

"One hundred percent okay. You keep everyone busy for a bit."

Lio still didn't look completely convinced, but for the moment, he went along with Kipo's plan and turned back to the bewildered audience. This time, he regaled them with the tale of how when Scarlemagne was a mere child, he invented his very own board game using only bottle caps and dental floss.

"Look, you went through a lot of work to get mutes to respect you. I get it," said Kipo, trying her best to sound sympathetic without trivializing the whole kidnapping-and-brainwishing thing. "But if you keep this up, they aren't going to respect you. They're just going to be looking for their first chance to stab you in the back! Erm, figuratively. Probably figuratively."

Nervous laughter filled the arena below as Lio had somehow managed to transition from talking about Scarlemagne's childhood to tossing out science-based puns. At least the Newton Wolves seemed to be enjoying it.

Scarlemagne looked either ready to kill someone or bury himself in a hole. Likely both. "Then what do you propose I do?" he asked, his fists clenched. "I brought the humans out here specifically for a show of force. It's not much force-showing if they all just wander off."

Kipo had to admit, she was impressed he managed to keep his voice down. It clearly took everything in him not to explode in a massive burst of anger. Of course, he was only angry because he couldn't have a mind-controlled human army. But baby steps and all that. For now, she'd do her best to keep up the charade that they were merely having a small chat up here and not deciding the future of his empire. "All right, Scarlemagne, I'm going to offer you a choice. A real choice. We can have this fight if you really want to have it. Pretty sure I'll kick your butt, but hey, your prerogative. Oo, Dad! You hear how well I used the word 'prerogative'?"

"Nice job," Lio replied quietly. "I retract the C+ I gave you on your last vocabulary test." He turned back to the audience and resumed his announcer-level volume. "Now, did any of you ever hear the one about the black hole and the all-you-can-eat buffet?"

"Choice number two," Kipo went on as if the diversion had never happened. "I help you get through this coronation without threatening anybody, and we work together to build your empire."

Scarlemagne narrowed his eyes at her. "You'll help me build a place where mutes rule over humans?" he whispered. "I know you said you were a bad liar, Kipo, but you must admit this is hard to swallow."

"I…" Kipo bit her lip. Maybe she hadn't thought this through as well as she'd hoped. Or maybe her instincts had led her in the completely wrong direction again. Or maybe…

 _Or maybe I need to trust myself_ , she thought and took a deep breath before whispering back, "If mutes can come together and stop fighting with each other, I think that's a good thing. I'm hoping they can stop the fighting with humans, too. But let's just say we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I'm not building a bridge," Scarlemagne said, looking genuinely confused. "I'm creating a city of golden buildings. Do you think we need a bridge? What would it even go over?"

"Grr! You know what I mean!" Kipo now found it very tricky to keep her own voice low. Back in the arena, the confused crowd had started to grow restless. Except for the wolves, no one seemed to like (or even understand) Lio's humor. Something--or someone--had to give...and soon.

Scarlemagne hung his head, giggling. "I think I will enjoy undermining humanity and crushing your naivete in the process. Very well, then, Kipo. Tell me how you plan for us to proceed."


	2. Chapter 2

Kipo stepped forward and held up her hands to silence the crowd. Half of them had drifted off during Lio's jokes, and the rest were eager to hear what was actually happening, so the "silencing" part was pretty easy. "A-hem! As you can see, the great Scarlemagne has, um...a very great army here. Of humans. That you can see. But that's not the only reason he asked you all out there!" Her voice carried impressively well over the arena. Maybe it was part of the mega jaguar in her. She glanced back at Scarlemagne, who had his arms crossed and a look of pure amusement on his face. She didn't trust for a second that he was willing to let her have full control here. But as long as she kept entertaining him with her fumbling speech and complete inability to ad-lib, he was at least holding off murdering her and everyone she loved. Kipo always did pride herself on her positivity. She took a deep breath and continued,

"You see, the golden city of Aurum isn't just for Scarlemagne and his primatey nobles! It is for all mutes! For the Scooter Skunks! For the Glam Rock Hamsters! For the Umlaut Snäkes! For the Mo--" She grimaced as she glanced sideways at the statue of Mrs. Satori, Harris, and Kwat. It was still really, really awful to look at. But...Dave came back from death plenty of times, so maybe they could, too? Somehow? "--most excellent of all mutes everywhere!" she finally finished.

She was hoping there'd be cheering or at least mild applause. She got one clap.

"I thought we were gonna see the humans all fight each other!" one of the Humming Bombers yelled, to the agreement of her surrounding comrades.

Kipo gritted her teeth and whirled around to face Scarlemagne. "You were going to have the humans _fight_ each other?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

Scarlemagne shrugged. "Just a few gladiator-style deaths for the show of it. You know how power-hungry overlords like myself work."

"Okay, we are _so_ having a talk later!" She turned back to the crowd, finding it a little trickier to get everyone's attention this time around, as they had all started muttering among themselves.

Cotton from the Umlaut Snäkes reared up and gave a loud hiss, silencing (for the moment at least) those nearest her. "If Scarlemagne is so interested in making a city for us, why didn't he say so instead of tying us up and dragging us to his s-s-silly coronation?"

_He was kidnapping mutes, too? How much of this mandrill's nonsense do I have to explain away here?_

"The, um, coronation...is of course, very important to Scarlemagne," Kipo answered. "He...realizes he might have been a bit too forceful in some of his invitations, and he...uh...really, really regrets that."

"No, he doesn't!" one of the Fitness Raccoons said, pointing. It was a bit tricky to see exactly where he was pointing given the distance between them, but Kipo assumed it was at the giggling mandrill behind her. "He's doing that evil laugh thing he does!" the raccoon continued. "Fact: no one evil laughs and regrets at the same time!"

"Definitely a fact!" Good Billions chimed in from the wolf section.

A drop of sweat trickled down the back of Kipo's neck. "He's a recovering evil overlord, okay? Cut him some slack here. Also, anyone who wants to have a say in how Aurum is going to be designed, built, and governed, please select a representative from your mute group and meet us in the...the, um...what's the place that used to be a food court?"

"King Scarlemagne calleth that the grand foyer," Gerard offered.

"Right. Meet us in the grand foyer in thirty minutes! The flamingos will show you the way. Oh, and if someone could find the TheaOtters and bring them here, too, that'd be helpful. That is all!" And before any of the mutes had a chance to argue, she quickly ducked out of sight and hurried through one of the doors back inside the palace. Gerard stuttered in confusion as Scarlemagne followed behind her, fuming.

" _What_ did you just tell them?"

Kipo turned to face Scarlemagne while walking backwards, smiling the whole way. "Huh? Oh, you mean the part where the mutes you want living in your golden city of dreams actually have a say in what dreams they're living there? I figured it was self-explanatory." She clapped her hands together. "Man, my vocab is on fire today!" She resisted the temptation to hum a parody version of her favorite karaoke song as Lio hurried to catch up with them. It sounded like Gerard was still outside arguing with someone. Probably Lemieux about the color of the curtains or something.

"You know I think you're amazing, sweetheart," Lio said to his daughter. "But you need to understand there are really old grudges between some of these mutes. There's a reason they haven't gotten along for two centuries."

"Relax, Dad," Kipo said. "I already got the Timber Cats and the Umlaut Snäkes to make friends. Well, maybe not _friend_ friends, exactly. Maybe like...person-I-pass-in-the-burrow-sometimes friends?"

A pounding of footsteps down the palace corridor interrupted her unconvincing argument. Kipo's heart felt ten times lighter as Wolf, Benson, Mandu, and Dave (currently in teenage form) sprinted into view, with Gerard puffing and panting behind them. Oddly enough, Wolf was unarmed. That made Kipo a little uneasy. Wolf was never unarmed.

"And who are these?" Scarlemagne asked in disgust.

Gerard stopped and saluted. "I letteth them in, sire! They hath claimed to be friends of Princess Kipo!"

"You're a princess?" Wolf raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"No. Maybe? I'll explain later. For now, just assume we don't have to hurt anyone."

"That's a weird assumption with Scarlemagne right next to you." She pointed, her opposite hand gripping the empty air. Either Stalky had broken or Wolf had found a way to make it invisible. Both scenarios deserved a serious Stalky talk later.

"Yeah," Kipo sighed. "It's been a crazy day."

Scarlemagne coughed loudly. Kipo could only assume it was his way of drawing attention. The mandrill tended to demand a _lot_ of attention.

"Scarlemagne, these are my friends," she explained as she pointed to each of them. "See, Benson and Wolf here are, um, going to represent the humans at the Aurum negotiations table."

"We are?" Benson asked in surprise.

Wolf elbowed him and with a reluctant huff, she removed her signature cape. "Yes, we are," she said confidently.

Kipo smiled and continued, "Mandu is here representing the non-speaking mutes. And Dave is representing, um...Dave, I guess. Yeah, he's representing Dave."

"Yeah," Teenage Dave said in his usual whiny tone. "Kingdom Dave is the best, and don't you ever forget it!" He pointed at Scarlemagne, but the force of his declaration caused him to molt, turning him back into Adult Dave once again. "Huh...Kingdom Dave," he mused to himself, stepping back. "I like it. Teenage me has some good ideas."

Scarlemange remained unimpressed. "And you, Kipo? I presume you represent the mega-mutes, then?"

"Huh? Me?" Kipo looked around the room, but she didn't see any random mega-mutes wandering the palace halls. "Oh, no. I'm not part of this. I mean, I am part of this, but I'm just the negotiator person, you know?"

A maniacal grin spread across Scarlemagne's face. Finding a topic that made Kipo uncomfortable seemed to be the highlight of his day. He placed his hands behind his back and began pacing in a circle around the group. "Song was never able to turn back into a human," he observed. "Yet I heard reports you can shift in and out of the mega jaguar at will. How _is_ that exactly?"

"Oh, that's easy," Dave said with a grin. "See, we've got an anchor for Kipo. And as long as Kipo has this anchor--" He reached into Benson's backpack and pulled out the photo of Kipo and her parents, waving it teasingly in front of Scarlemagne's face and stopping the mandrill in his pacing tracks. "--this very anchor you see right here? Then she can mega jaguar all over the place and go right back to Kipo-ing with no problem at--"

Scarlemagne snatched the photo from Dave's disappointingly loose grip.

"--all?" Dave squeaked.

Wolf slapped herself in the face.

Kipo stepped forward. "Scarlemagne? We're playing nice now, remember? So, seriously, can you give that back?" She tried to sound as optimistic as she could. After all, how were they going to establish trust between them otherwise? But she couldn't say she was shocked when Scarlemagne tucked the photo into his jacket pocket.

"Oh, no. I think I'll hold onto this for now. Sentimental reasons and all. I never did have a photo of our parents and I together. Isn't that just too sad?"

"Very sad," Wolf muttered, still glaring at Dave.

"Extremely sad," Dave agreed, oblivious. "I say we get Kipo's mom and dad...and you and Kipo all together for a nice picture, and make all the sadness go away!"

No one responded.

Scarlemagne turned to Kipo. "I'm sure becoming a permanent mute would be the ultimate punishment for a human, wouldn't it?"

"I didn't say that," Kipo replied, her resolve building. "Mutes are great!"

"Really? If being a mute is 'great'," he made air quotes to emphasize his point, "why is this so-called anchor important to you?"

"Because humans are great, too," Kipo said, her words coming faster and her confidence building. They were still standing in this hallway while meanwhile the mute representatives were on their way into the palace. "And because I'm not just a mute, and I'm not just a human. I'm both."

"Hmph," Scarlemagne replied. "The war between humans and mutes has gone on for far longer than you've been alive, Kipo. There is no taking a middle ground here." He patted his pocket. "Sooner or later, you'll have to pick a side. I suggest the winning one. But that's up to you." He giggled to himself as he trotted down the hall towards the--well, it still looked like an old food court to Kipo, but the "grand foyer" for now. Whatever it was called, several mutes were already heading inside, waiting to talk. A pair of flamingos stood at the entrance, looking over the strangers in confusion. All Kipo's hopes and dreams for peace were riding on the conversation she and her friends were about to have with the guy who'd been their sworn enemy a few hours ago. One talk to start an era of peace between groups of creatures that had been fighting between themselves for decades.

Right. No pressure or anything. Time for some mega jaguar levels of negotiation.


	3. Chapter 3

Scarlemagne paused at the entrance to the grand foyer. The distant, uneasy mutterings from the mutes inside could already be heard. He made some attempt to dust himself off first, which made Kipo, Benson, and Wolf do the same...

...which reminded Wolf she really, really needed to remove the pelt she was wearing if they were going to sit in front of a group of mutes and not look like unhinged murderers. She quickly pulled it off and tossed it behind one of the thick curtains nearby.

"Ugh. This will never come clean," Scarlemagne mumbled. As if in reply to his complaint, a woman clad in a red dress and wearing a mask appeared beside them, offering his normal coat in place of the royal robes he'd gotten mussed up in his fight with Kipo. He growled and threw off his tattered garment, grabbing the new one and shoving his arms into the sleeves with a good bit of complaint.

Benson nudged Kipo and pointed. "Didn't you say all the humans were free now?" he whispered.

"They're...supposed to be," Kipo replied, unable to take her eyes off the strange woman, who bowed and walked away without a word. "Maybe Tad can only concentrate on so many humans at a time. Or maybe part of him is taking a nap right now. Or...or..."

"I can hear you, you know," Scarlemagne muttered as he tied the jacket's bow. "What? You thought that every single human was only here because I compelled them? It never occurred to you that at least one of them might be here of their own free will?"

Kipo crossed her arms. "Honestly? No, that thought really didn't occur to me."

"Why would it?" Wolf added on. "All you've ever done is enslave humans."

Scarlemagne pounded his fist into the wall, making Dave, Mandu, and the flamingos guarding the door jump. "They enslaved _me_ first," he growled. "They enslaved all of us first. And if given a chance, they'd do it again." He turned to Kipo. "You're the one who first suggested my followers should be voluntary. You seemed to think, given the choice, some might actually like me. Do you still believe that?"

Kipo felt the weight of Benson, Wolf, Dave, and Mandu's collective skeptical stares.

"Um...I-I..." She fidgeted with her dress. "Well, you have hurt a lot of people. Mutes, too. It might take some time to, y'know...rebuild some trust there."

Scarlemagne chuckled at the word "trust" but made no comment about it and stepped into the foyer. Wolf, meanwhile, watched the noblewoman walk away until she had disappeared around the corner. "I just can't believe it. She wouldn't...no human would agree to work with you."

Scarlemagne straightened his jacket. "Our meeting is about to start," he called. "If you have any grievances, I suggest you bring them up in here." He motioned the group inside. "Kipo, you'll sit beside me."

The grand foyer was pretty nice. Scarlemagne's piano had been moved and three wide dining tables, placed end-to-end, now stood in its place. The mute representatives all sat eyeing each other suspiciously, with a good deal of growling, hissing, and barely concealed under-the-breath insults. When Kipo and her friends entered, the only seats still available were a cluster between Scarlemagne at the head of the table and the Newton Wolves representatives (Billions and Billions, from the looks of it) about halfway down the right side. The friends all took their seats, moving their chairs as close to each other as possible. Kipo made a mental note not to pull out her giant jaguar paw, no matter how tempting. In this cramped space, she'd probably break the table and possibly someone's limb. She folded her hands tightly together and looked around. The space was empty of nobles, except for Gerard, Lemeux, and a few others. No humans in sight. She breathed a sigh of relief for this tiny bit of good news. Everyone seemed to be safe for the moment.

Scarlemagne snapped his fingers, which summoned Gerard over, clutching a large illustration of the plans for Aurum. He attempted to unfurl the paper and pin it up on what appeared to be a music stand fused with a bulletin board. The paper did not cooperate.

As Gerard continued to struggle, Dave cleared his throat. "I, President Dave, speaking on behalf of all Dave-kind, would like to call this meeting to order."

The conversation did pause, though Wolf suspected that was less out of respect for Dave and more out of bafflement that Dave thought they would listen to him.

"Our first, and might I add, only order of business..." Scarlemagne announced, easily drawing the attention of everyone present. "...is the layout of Aurum. A haven for mutes--" He paused to glance at Kipo, then added in very quickly, "--and-maybe-some-humans-squeezed-in-there-depending-on-our-collective-generosity."

Whispers circulated around the table. Kipo could only imagine what Scarlemagne had been saying about humans up until this point. Even the hastily shoved-in suggestion that they might actually share living space with the mutes no doubt caused more than a little confusion. She hoped confusion was all it caused and not an all-out argument.

Bad Billions stood at his place. "First we need to know who will be building this city." He gestured to the massive illustration Gerard had finally managed to display at the head of the table. Then he retook his seat, with Good Billions nodding his emphatic agreement.

Molly Yarnchopper raised her ax. "The Timbercats _may_ offer our vast expertise...provided our living space is far away from--and much better than--whatever the Umlaut Snäkes have."

Camille reared up and hissed at this insult, an action which sent the Glam Rock Hamster representative squealing and hiding under the table. He scurried around, looking for the safest place to hide, bumping the feet, paws, and claws of every mute and human along the way.

"Ow!"

"What the--?"

"Ick!" Jamack nearly tumbled into one of the Hummingbombers. He waved his arms wildly in order to regain his balance and not fall headfirst into a fragile glass tube of explosive nectar. When he was sitting upright again, blasts avoided, he straightened his jacket and cleared his throat. "Hey, um...I'm only here because one of these crazy birds said Kipo needed me." He gestured to the bird in question, then to Kipo at head of the table. "I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to represent the Mod Frogs. I mean, maybe some of you don't have any concept of a hierarchy in your little gangs, but we have an established leader, and she's not me."

This brought an odd silence to the group. Benson and Wolf winced. Dave coughed into his fist much too purposefully.

Jamack's gaze traveled around the table. "Yeah, I get the feeling there's something I'm missing here."

To Kipo's surprise, Scarlemagne looked genuinely uneasy at this turn in the conversation. Did he actually feel guilty about what he had done to the Mod Frogs? She wanted to believe it, but then again, she'd been accused of being overly optimistic before. This could totally be one of those Kipo's-too-positive times.

Dave coughed again, and Mandu rubbed his back with two of her hooves.

Molly raised her paw. Still with the ax in it. "Moving on. The Timbercats want to know if there will be a ridiculously large scratching post in this Aurum place."

Carton raised _both_ her paws. "The Fitness Raccoons want to know if there'll be a gym. With a sauna. Oh, and a rock garden. Oh, and a trash garden."

"What's a trash garden?" Benson asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Carton grinned. "It's like a rock garden but with trash in it. Very nice for meditation."

"The Newton Wolves will _not_ live in garbage!" Good Billions growled, fists on the table.

"Or meditate in it," Bad Billions added on.

"Whoa, whoa!" Kipo said, waving her non-furry, normal-sized arm for attention. "No one's asking anyone to do anything. This place isn't going to be built overnight, and there's bound to be disagreements. But if we at least hear out each others' ideas--"

"You stay out of this, human," Good Billions growled.

"She's not human," Dave objected. "She's the mega-mute rep!"

"Looks human to me," said the Glam Rock hamster, finally returning to his seat.

"She looked like a giant jaguar when she fought off those nasty nobles," Puck countered. "The TheaOtters would welcome her input."

"Oh, really? Let the record show that we Newton Wolves detest felines _and_ humans, and therefore, our point stands!"

"The nobles would liketh to state that we art not nasty!" Gerard bellowed.

One of the Scooter Skunks, rather than watching the chaos unfold at the table, kept her sharp eyes on Scarlemagne. His hands gripped the tablecloth, looking about ready to tear it in two. His jaw was set in a silent snarl of frustration. And still he didn't take any action. The skunk narrowed her eyes.

"Hey," she said, leaning in towards him. "This ain't like you...letting things get all crazy. Why don't you get more of your nobles in here to calm the place down?"

 _If I could do that, I would have right from the start._ It took everything in Scarlemagne's power not to flip the table in his rage. Before Kipo ruined everything, his mere thought that the situation needed some control would have brought dozens of brainwashed humans hurrying to this place, crossbows at the ready. Before Kipo...

No. he wouldn't turn his anger against her. After all, she'd merely attacked in an attempt to save her own. Did he want his sister to be weak? She'd found an opening in his defense, and she'd exploited it perfectly. His defeat was on his own shoulders.

Somehow that fact made his fury more intense, not less.

"--so which is it, then?" Camille was demanding of Kipo when Scarlemagne decided to stop brooding and listen to the conversation again. "Mute or human?"

"I-I...I'm neither. Or both, I think?" Kipo rubbed the back of her head.

"Not asking what you _are_. I'm asking which side you're taking." She tilted her scaly head towards Wolf and Benson. "If your friends there and these wolves started fighting, and you couldn't tell who started it, who would you stand in front of? Who's your real band?"

"I-I..."

Scarlemagne watched his little sister with intense curiosity. He could tell from her face she had an answer but didn't want to say it. Well, _he_ knew her answer. She'd grown up around humans. She spent most of her life thinking she was human. It was only natural she would identify with them. But her hesitation was only getting the mutes around her more riled up. Scarlemagne had taken quite a bit of this nonsense. He would have order here in his own palace. He _demanded_ order.

So he stood and slammed both hands down on the table. For the moment, at least, it quieted everyone. All eyes turned to him.

"We will take a short recess," he announced on the spot. "Aferwards, we shall reconvene and discuss only the most pressing matters about _basic_ construction and housing layouts, _not_ future amenities."

"But...we've barely been meeting for ten minutes," Bad Billions objected.

"Short. Recess," Scarlemagne snapped before storming out the door. A set of footsteps--Kipo's, no doubt--scurried after him. He did not turn around. His patience was wearing thin as it was and re-explaining to his little sister what a terrible idea this all was wouldn't help matters.

Thankfully, she only walked beside him, waiting for him to start the conversation. With focus, he brought his quick, angered breathing to a reasonable pace. The tense muscles in his shoulders and neck relaxed a smidgen, even though his forehead remained damp with sweat. Out of habit, his first thought was to grab a perfume bottle to collect it. Then he remembered he had no use for such things anymore. Well, at least he could do with a nice handkerchief. Someone should really bring him one.

The moment his mind settled on the thought, the barely-audible sounds of Lemeux's soft paws against the marble floor came up behind him. One paw held the tiny cloth he'd wanted. Scarlemagne took it, mopped his brow, and sighed. Lemeux scurried back out of view.

Apparently, Kipo found this fascinating. "Wait...what? How?" She pointed a shaking finger at the curtains the little primate had gone behind. The shock on her face was utterly confusing. What had baffled her so? Humans did understand that things still existed even when they couldn't be seen, didn't they? "How do you do that?" she finally got out.

"Do what? Give orders?" The question caught Scarlemagne off-guard for a moment. He held the handkerchief out to the empty air, and within seconds, Lemeux reappeared to take it from him.

"Yes! That right there! You gave orders without even talking! Are you telepathic or something?"

"Obviously," Scarlemagne said as Lemeux ducked out of sight once again. "You saw my nobles act on my behalf without me yelling at them several times."

"That's an amazing power! Seriously!" She rubbed her chin. "I mean, it'd be nice if you didn't use it to order people around, but still..."

"What do you suggest I do with it, then? Send little messages to my friends?"

"Yes! Doesn't that sound awesome?"

He couldn't tell if he wanted to shout at her for being so naive or burst into laughter. His power was the thing that made him strong. It was what Lio and all the other humans feared. And with its strength, he'd made all the mutes fear him as well. No one _liked_ what he could do. The first thing Lio had told him was never to use it.

Kipo rubbed her chin, apparently deep in thought. "Hang on...why do you yell at Gerard all the time if you can tell him what you need through telepathy?"

"Why do you think? It's fun." Scarlemagne gave a chuckle, but Kipo frowned. No appreciation for his sense of humor, it seemed.

Kipo looked back behind them towards the foyer. There were no explosions happening, so that bode well. Still, if the two of them didn't get back in and call this meeting to order, there might soon not be a foyer left to meet in.

"I confess...this is difficult for me," Scarlemagne said quietly. "Relying on others has never brought me much success. I much prefer relying on myself. Yet thanks to you, I can no longer do so." He narrowed his eyes at her. Right now would be the time any rational human would back away and run.

Of course Kipo wasn't rational. Nor, as he himself had pointed out, was she exactly human.

"So we have to work together," Kipo concluded. "Not the end of the world, is it?"

Scarlemagne couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Not for you, perhaps."

"Not for anybody," Kipo declared, grinning. Then she extended her hand. "We'll get through this, okay? You, me, and all the others. Let's try again. For real this time. Okay?"

Scarlemagne looked at his sister's outstretched hand. He hated this. Hated all of it. Looking weak. Having to bluff about the strength of his influence as opposed to...well, actually having influence. And yet...Kipo herself had influence, did she not? True, perhaps not as solid as his had been. Yet she had befriended multiple groups of different mutes who were normally natural enemies. Whether or not she could get them to work in unison was truly anyone's guess.

Yet, as she had said, what other options were on the table except to try? He took her hand and shook it politely. Then, without another word, the two of them turned to face the future. Together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally seen season 3, and I'm now continuing this fanfic for NaNoWriMo. (I don't think it will actually be 50,000 words or anywhere close to it, but it's good motivation.) Thanks for reading!

The scene they re-entered on wasn't exactly pretty. Lots of mutes shouting and booing at each other, though no outright violence yet. Fitness Raccoon Carton was arguing with Scooter Skunk Loretta over which decade their attire came from, and the Glam Rock Hamster rep was wearing down his teeth on the table leg.

Nevertheless, Kipo cleared her throat and walked over to her place at the table. She climbed up, stood on the chair, and coughed louder, this time putting just a hint of a jaguar growl behind it. The bickering stopped and everyone turned to her. Her friends (assuming Scarlemagne counted as a friend now), quietly took their places while she passionately raised her arms.

"Everyone, please calm down! No one said building this city was going to be easy! In fact, it's probably going to be really, really, _really_ hard!"

Scarlemagne leaned towards Benson. "Is she about to make a speech?"

"She is one hundred percent about to make a speech," Benson agreed.

"What we're trying to do here has never been done before!" Kipo went on, gesturing dramatically at the walls around them. "Mutes from _every_ walk of life coming together to live in one place? It sounds like it's just setting up for _every_ one to argue with each other. But maybe we can overcome all that. Maybe what this place needs is a little bit of _every_ thing."

"You keep saying _every_ like it really important," Molly muttered. "Make your point."

"Right. Point making. See, I'm thinking rather than one giant city, we build a place with neighborhoods for each group. A cluster of homes away from your homes. Oh, also, I move to rename the city Aurumah."

"Excuse me?" Scarlemagne asked, turning his full attention back to her when he'd been previously inspecting his fingernails.

"You can't just give a thing a fancy-sounding name and go with it," said Kipo. "It has to mean something! Aurum stands for All Us Royally United Mutes. But I want to add 'And Humans,' so that would make it Aurumah."

"I did not just pick a fancy name at random. Furthermore...no one, and I repeat _no one_ agreed we're letting humans stay here."

Good Billions raised a paw. "I do respect your clever acronym," he allowed. "I would vote to accept this name without the humans part."

"Yet," Yumyan added on.

"'Yet?" Bad Billions crossed his arms. "You think she's going to bring humans in here and we're going to agree to it?"

"I have serious doubts on that," Yumyam allowed. "But she's also Kipo. Weird things happen with her."

"Oo, seconding!" Carton called out, once again raising both paws in the event it somehow gave her double the votes. "Weird stuff with Kipo is definitely a thing."

Wolf, who had been especially quiet throughout this whole exchange, calmly raised her hand. "There's something else we all have to think about. Dr. Emilia is still out there."

"Who's that?" asked the Hummingbomber rep.

For this, Scarlemagne chose to fill in the details. "She's an unrelenting human villain," he began, folding his hands as his voice lowered. "Her goal is the very antithesis of our own. She imprisoned me as a child, forcing me to generate exorbitant amounts of my puppet pheromones for use in her nefarious plots!"

Few of the mutes at the table seemed to understand a word Scarlemagne had just said, and the ones that did (namely the Newton Wolves) showed no particular sympathy.

"Also, she made my mom, aka the mega monkey, steal the scratching tree," Kipo added on.

Yumyan and Molly raised their axes. "Emilia must be defeated!" Their battle cry spurned the other mutes at the table into heated talks once again, which only subsided when Kipo gave another growl--not really disguised as clearing her throat this time--and announced that given the long day, they should set up sleeping arrangements for everyone who wanted to spend the night in Scarlemagne's palace. Any hesitancy was quickly dissipated when Benson volunteered to make pancakes for the evening meal.

Scarlemagne, for his part, exited the room with Kipo and Wolf beside him. He did not seem particularly happy.

"Well, that was a disaster," he muttered.

Wolf offered no objections, but Kipo looked confused. "What are you talking about? I think it all went pretty well."

"Are you serious?" Scarlemagne asked. "We just spent two hours in a meeting, and all we really agreed on was an acronym!"

"Actually, you'd be impressed with how long that can take," Benson said.

"Oo, absolutely!" Kipo added, positive as ever. "I was on the debate team in school, and once, we spent a whole practice session deciding if we should wear black shirts or navy shirts. I'm pretty sure they were all the same shirts."

"You've only really managed to convince me you have no business holding a leadership position of any kind."

Before Kipo could come up with another overly optimistic sentiment to argue his point, Yumyam and Molly came up behind them. Wolf might have said they were trying to look stealthy, but since nothing Yumyan did was the least bit stealthy, it was hard to tell.

"Erm, not to bother you while you're in your royal debate here or anything..." Yumyam began.

"...but we need to know what you want done with these guys," Molly finished.

"Huh?" Kipo and her group paused as the two Timbercats revealed Asher, Dahlia, and Troy hiding in their tails. Wolf glanced between everyone's awkward expressions and assumed the three humans had probably not asked before hitching a ride. Dahlia scratched the back of her nack while Troy and Dahlia did their best to brush the excessive cat hair off their clothes.

"We could tell the mutes we need...three more human representatives?" Benson offered weakly.

"Completely unnecessary." Scarlemagne rolled his eyes and waved his hands. "Just let them stay with the other humans. It'll all be fine."

"Other humans? You mean you have more volunteers besides that woman we saw earlier?" Kipo asked.

"No, I mean the large group of former human nobles, combined with the large group of humans from your burrow. Those other humans."

"Oh. My mom's probably helped them all get to the forest by now," Kipo said thoughtfully.

For a moment, Scarlemagne stared in silence at her. One could only wonder what was going through his mind as his eye twitched, his fists tightened and relaxed, and a low growl rose in his throat. "You let all the humans go?" he whispered.

If Kipo noticed the barely-concealed rage in his voice, she ignored it completely. "Well, yeah. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn't keep them here, and I'm pretty sure you didn't want them all flooding into the gramp foyer or whatever you call it."

Scarlemagne gritted his teeth and tried to massage his forehead, though it looked more like he was about to rip his fur out. He continued in his furious whisper, "Did it occur to you, even for a moment, that a group of humans I'd been previously mind-controlling might, just possibly, be exactly the army Emilia needs to oppose us?"

Kipo's eyes widened, and her already magenta face flushed with embarrassment. "Oops."

"Hey!" Dave came running down the hall to join the group. Wolf felt only slightly guilty she hadn't noticed he wasn't with them earlier. The bug caught his breath before pointing down the hallway he'd just come running through. "You guys promised a large group of mutes a nice dinner, and if we don't get it to them fast, we're going to _be_ the nice dinner. So let's get to work here!" He turned to Scarlemagne. "Also, I don't suppose you'll give back Kipo's anchor yet?"

"No," Scarlemagne said flatly.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

The exchange seemed to confuse Dahlia, who nevertheless took the parts she did understand--namely that Scarlemagne had something of Kipo's and wasn't returning it--and marched up to him, her fist slightly raised, as if holding an ax she didn't actually have. "Listen, you. If you mess with one person from our burrow, you mess with everyone from our burrow, and you've messed with a lot of our...burrow!" She thrust her hand forward, noted the lack of an ax in her possession, and jabbed an angry finger at Scarlemagne's face instead.

"Okay, everyone needs to stay calm!" Kipo announced, stepping in between them. "Let's deal with this one step at a time, okay? Scarlemagne--you, me, and Wolf will come up with a plan for Emilia. Dahlia and Asher, start getting some table settings out so it looks like we're almost ready to eat, even though we definitely aren't. Troy, Dave, and Benson--" She gave the three of them a very serious look. "I dub you...the Pancake-Making Trio. Now, let's move it, people! Erm, and mutes. Mutes and people! Everyone, go do all the stuff I just said, okay?"

And, impressively, everyone did.


End file.
